32-486: Bob Jane T-Marts is a chain of tire stores founded by former race car driver Bob Jane in Melbourne, Victoria , Australia in 1965. The company has grown to encompass over 100 franchises across Australia. The company remains an independent, family-owned business to this day with Bob's son, Rodney Jane, the current CEO. However, in 2011 the then 82-year-old Bob Jane resigned as chairman of Bob Jane T-Marts citing difficulties in
64-537: A bad start and a collision another car, with de Cesaris putting in the drive of the race to finish 3rd after starting early from the pit lane and being almost half a lap down when he took the green flag. Jane is credited with bringing stock car racing to Australia. Long resistant to oval racing (seeing it as dull and monotonous when compared to circuit racing, although speedway ( Dirt track racing ), held on smaller ¼ or ⅓ mile oval tracks, has been popular in Australia since
96-409: A kitchen knife. In a Victorian County Court, on 22 January 2009, a jury found Laree Jane not guilty of five charges, including assault, related to the domestic dispute. Jane met Laree when he performed Grand Marshal duties for the 1986 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Jane declared bankruptcy on 8 July 2016. On 28 September 2018, Jane died from prostate cancer, 21 years after his diagnosis. He
128-472: A retreaded tyre blowing out. Having lost control of Bob Jane T-Marts, Jane attempted to create a new tyre business using his name. It was blocked by son Rodney in court which also ruled Jane pay legal costs. In May 2015, his Diggers Rest farm was seized by the state sheriff in order to settle the outstanding costs. From 1980 to 1984, the Australian Grand Prix was held at his Calder Park Raceway in
160-622: Is located at 471 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne . From 2002 to 2004, Bob Jane T-Marts held the naming rights sponsorship for the Bathurst 1000 , the race Jane dominated early in his career. The company also held the naming rights to what was then known as the Bob Jane Stadium, now known as Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park, Victoria home of South Melbourne FC . Bob Jane Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018)
192-529: The Adelaide International Raceway which features the only other paved NASCAR type oval in Australia with its half mile Speedway Super Bowl, which, unlike the Thunderdome, is a permanent part of the road circuit. In 1992, Jane and Sydney based speedway promoter and Channel 7 television commentator Mike Raymond also announced plans to turn the old half mile harness racing track that surrounded
224-563: The Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island , Victoria , driving a Mercedes-Benz 220SE . Jane and Firth, driving a Ford Falcon XL , won the race again the following year, the last before the event moved to Mount Panorama at Bathurst , New South Wales , retaining the Armstrong 500 name. Jane, driving for the Ford works team , won a further two Armstrong 500s at the new venue, the first with Firth in 1963 and
256-639: The Parramatta Speedway in Sydney into a paved oval for NASCAR and the Australian AUSCAR category, giving Australia a third paved oval speedway. However, the project never got past the planning stage. On 23 February 2007, Jane was granted a 12-month intervention order against his estranged wife, Laree Jane (born 1967). At the time, she was 39 years old and they had been married for 20 years. He accused her of threatening to shoot him and threatening him with
288-553: The Winston Cup's Pontiac Excitement 400 at the Richmond International Raceway the previous weekend, and Allison, who had won the 1988 Daytona 500 just one week prior to that, dominated the race, swapping the lead several times on a hot summer afternoon in which cabin temperatures were reported to reach over 57 °C (135 °F). Bonnett won the 280 lap race from Allison with Dave Marcis finishing 3rd. The race
320-418: The naming rights sponsorship for the Bathurst 1000 , the race Jane dominated early in his career. The company also held the naming rights to the former Bob Jane Stadium , home of South Melbourne FC . Bob Jane T-Marts is the only major tyre retailer in Australia who do not sell retread tyres. Jane's personal reason for this is that his second eldest daughter Georgina had died in a car accident in 1991 due to
352-455: The 1920s), Australian motorsport fans finally had their own NASCAR -style high banked superspeedway when Jane spent A$ 54 million building the Thunderdome on the grounds of Calder Park Raceway. The 1.801 km (1.119 mi) Thunderdome, with 24° banking in the turns, was built as a quad-oval with Jane modelling the track on the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway . Opened on 3 August 1987,
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#1732855005179384-546: The ATCC, he finished on the podium 21 times. Jane also won the 1963 Australian GT Championship at the wheel of a Jaguar E-type , and the Marlboro Sports Sedan Series, in both 1974 and 1975, at his own Calder Park Raceway driving a Holden Monaro GTS 350 (at times he also drove his Repco V8 powered Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 which was mostly driven by John Harvey ). Jane retired from competitive motor racing at
416-699: The Australian. The 1983 race was the last time the Grand Prix was included as a round of the Australian Drivers' Championship. During 1984 it was announced that from 1985, the Australian Grand Prix would be held on the Streets of Adelaide and would be the 16th and final round of the 1985 Formula One season , giving the Grand Prix "World Championship" status for the first time in its history. Despite this, Jane
448-587: The Thunderdome played host to the first ever NASCAR event held outside North America on 28 February 1988 with the Goodyear NASCAR 500 . Several prominent drivers from the United States came to Australia for this race including Alabama Gang members Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett , along with Kyle Petty , Michael Waltrip , Dave Marcis , and others from the Winston West Series . Bonnett, who had won
480-424: The best Formula One drivers of the era. Each race from 1981 to 1984 was won by those driving the popular Ralt RT4 - Ford . The 1981 Australian Grand Prix was won by future F1 driver Roberto Moreno from Brazil . Finishing second, also in an RT4 was 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet (Brazil) with Australian Geoff Brabham finishing 3rd in his RT4. Alan Jones and Ligier's Jacques Laffite also participated in
512-456: The early 1950s as a champion bicycle rider, holding many state records before turning to four wheels. In the later 1950s, he started Bob Jane Autoland, a company that distributed parts for Jaguar and Alfa Romeo . Through this venture, a love of cars and motor sport blossomed and he first entered competitive racing in Australia in 1956; by 1960, he was racing with some of Australia's top sedan drivers. In 1961, Jane and co-driver Harry Firth won
544-547: The end of 1981 due to sciatica . At the time of his retirement he had been driving a 6.0 litre Chevrolet Monza in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship . After giving up driving, Jane asked touring car star Peter Brock to drive the Monza in the re-formed Australian GT Championship . Brock raced the car in 1982 and 1983 before Jane sold the car in early 1984 to Re-Car owner Allan Browne. In 1965, Jane opened
576-702: The first Bob Jane T-Marts store in Melbourne. The company remains an independent, family-owned business to this day; Bob's son, Rodney Jane, is the current CEO. In 2011, 81-year-old Jane resigned as chairman of T-Marts citing difficulties in the relationship with his son Rodney. From 1984 To 1997 Bob Jane formed a cross shareholding partnership with Ian Diffen. Bob Jane operated in Queensland and Ian Richard Diffen operated Ian Diffen's World of Tyres and Mufflers in Western Australia. From 2002 to 2004, Bob Jane T-Marts held
608-476: The highest calibre, such as Bob Jane , Norm Beechey and Allan Moffat . He also won the prestigious Bathurst 1000 endurance race in 1973 , driving an XA Falcon GT with Moffat for the Ford Works Team . Later in his career Geoghegan drove a Porsche Carrera to win the 1976 Australian Sports Car Championship , while also driving a Holden HQ Monaro in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship . Geoghegan
640-471: The outer suburbs of Melbourne, Jane taking over the promoting and staging of the Grand Prix in the hope of Calder Park being granted a round of the Formula One World Championship (an ambitious plan at best as Calder was a 1.6 km long circuit which the faster cars lapped in less than 40 seconds). The 1980 Grand Prix was open to Formula 5000 , Formula Pacific and Formula One cars and
672-576: The race, though both failed to finish. The 1981 race was the first time since 1968 that the AGP had two or more, current or past World Champions, on the starting grid. On that occasion, Jim Clark (1st), Graham Hill (3rd), Denny Hulme (9th), and Australia's own triple World Champion Jack Brabham (DNF) participated as the race was part of the popular off-season Tasman Series . For the 1982 Australian Grand Prix , Jane again attracted F1 drivers in Piquet, Laffite,
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#1732855005179704-425: The relationship with his son. Bob Jane would later attempt to establish another tyre business using his name, but was blocked by his son in court. Bob Jane T-Marts is the only major tyre retailer in Australia which does not sell retread tyres. Bob Jane's personal reason for this is that his second eldest daughter, Georgina, had died in a car crash in 1991 due to a retreaded tyre blowing out. The company's head office
736-573: The second in 1964 with George Reynolds as co-driver. Despite the change of venue, Jane is officially credited with winning Australia's most famous endurance race four times in a row, something no other driver, not even nine-time race winner Peter Brock , has ever done. Jane won the Australian Touring Car Championship (now known as the V8 Supercars Championship ) in 1962 , 1963 , 1971 and 1972 . His 1971 ATCC win
768-711: The then retired Jones, plus future Formula One World Champion Alain Prost . Frenchman Prost won the 100 lap race from Laffite and 1981 winner Roberto Moreno. When Prost later won his second AGP in Adelaide in 1986 to win his second of four Formula One World Championships, he became the only driver to ever win the Australian Grand Prix in both World Championship and non-championship formats. The 1983 race , while only attracting one current F1 driver in Jacques Laffite, as well as Alan Jones, who had made an abortive F1 comeback earlier in
800-604: The year, did attract 24 entries (mostly the Ford powered RT4), including former winner Moreno, Geoff Brabham and future F1 driver Allen Berg . Moreno won his second AGP from local drivers John Smith and Laffite. Geoff Brabham finished 4th with Jones in 5th and Charlie O'Brien . Reigning Australian Drivers' Champion Alfredo Costanzo led the race early in his Tiga FA81 before suffering a differential failure on lap 25. Moreno would later claim that had 'Alfie' not retired then he would likely have won as he didn't believe he would have caught
832-421: Was 88. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Ian Geoghegan Ian Anthony "Pete" Geoghegan , (26 April 1939 – 15 November 2003) was an Australian race car driver, known for a quick wit and natural driving skills. Sometimes referred to as "Pete" Geoghegan, he
864-582: Was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a four-time Australian Touring Car Champion , Jane was well known for his chain of tyre retailers, Bob Jane T-Marts . Jane was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000. Bob Jane grew up in Brunswick , an inner-city suburb of Melbourne . His passion for racing began in
896-464: Was in a Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 with a 427 cubic inch engine. Jane was forced by a rule change to replace the 427 engine with a 350 cubic inch engine for the 1972 championship but the Camaro still managed to beat the opposition, which included Allan Moffat 's Ford Boss 302 Mustang , Ian Geoghegan 's Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III , and Norm Beechey 's Holden HT Monaro GTS350 . Of the 38 races he started in
928-535: Was marred by an early multi-car crash in turns 3 and 4 involving 8 cars including the Ford Thunderbird of local touring car champion Dick Johnson , and the Oldsmobile of Allan Grice who, after running out of brakes, couldn't slow down coming off the back straight and ran into the wreck at speed. Grice, whose car was a write-off , suffered a broken collarbone and was taken to hospital for x-rays. Jane also owned
960-443: Was one of the iconic characters of the 1960s and 1970s Australian motor racing scene. His older brother Leo was also an accomplished driver and the brothers often shared a car in endurance events. He was a five-time winner of the Australian Touring Car Championship , a feat matched by only three other drivers since ( Dick Johnson , Mark Skaife and Jamie Whincup ). He achieved this string of victories driving against competitors of
992-533: Was still able to successfully attract current Formula One drivers to participate in the 1984 Australian Grand Prix . Headlining the 'imports' was three time (including 1984 ) World Champion Niki Lauda , and 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg . Joining them were 1984 Ligier drivers Andrea de Cesaris and François Hesnault and 1981 and 1983 AGP winner Roberto Moreno to face off against local stars Costanzo and 1984 Gold Star champion John Bowe . Moreno would win his 3rd AGP in 4 years from Rosberg, who fought back from
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1024-530: Was won by Australia's 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones driving his World Championship winning Williams FW07B - Ford . Second home was fellow F1 driver Bruno Giacomelli driving his Alfa Romeo 179 , with Ligier F1 driver Didier Pironi finishing 3rd, driving an Elfin MR8 Formula 5000 for leading Australian team Ansett Team Elfin . From 1981 until 1984 the races were run under Formula Mondial regulations and Jane succeeded in attracting many of
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